‘Dear White People’ Producer Effie T. Brown Named CEO at Gamechanger Films

By Lorraine Wheat

January 7, 2020

Gamechanger has hired veteran producer Effie T. Brown (“Dear White People”) as its new chief executive officer.

Launched in 2013, Gamechanger became the first film financing fund built for and managed by women. Brown will oversee the fund’s expansion to include projects by people of color, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities.

“As a black female producer who’s been in the business for over 20 years, I know how hard it is to not only get into the room but to then secure financing when you have a culturally diverse or gender-specific point of view,” Brown said.

“I am beyond thrilled to join Gamechanger as CEO and help level the playing field by providing equity financing for production, development monies as well as strategic partnerships for people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, women, and people of color,” she added. “What also makes us different is that the diversity of our content is as diverse as our investor pool. Our investors understand that it is going to take all of us pooling our monies together to ensure that these inclusive voices are given the opportunity to own their story from script to screen.”

Prior to Gamechanger, Brown executive produced Lee Daniels’ “Star.” She also produced “Dear White People” and “Real Women Have Curves,” earning a Film Independent Spirit Awards nomination for both.

Gamechanger also hired Film Independent’s director of artist development Jennifer Kushner as its chief content officer and added two new advisers: producer Nina Yang Bongiovi (“Sorry to Bother You”) and executive vice president and chief financial officer of global production operations at Universal Filmed Entertainment Arturo Barquet. Brenda Robinson and Naja Pham Lockwood will join the original founding team members Geralyn White Dreyfous, Dan Cogan and Wendy Ettinger.